The Holy Face of Jesus from the image of Veronica's veil
(The veil is kept in St. Peters Basilica, Rome.)

A Brief Timeline of Events Relating to the Holy Face and Holy Face Devotion

~33 AD:
Veronica wipes Our Lord's face with her veil and an image of His Holy Face
miraculously appears on the veil. Veronica later passes the relic of the
veil to Clement I (3rd successor of St. Peter). The relic of the veil was
kept in catacombs for the next 3 centuries during persecutions of the
Church. After that time, Holy Veil was placed in the church that was
constructed over the tomb of St. Peter (later to become the Basilica of St.
Peter). The Holy Veil has since been kept intact throughout the centuries.

The original Veronica's veil kept in the Vatican, now over 2000 years old

An exact copy of the original Veronica's veil made in 1617 during the reign of Pope Paul V

1843-1847:
Sister Mary of St. Peter, a Carmelite nun in Tours France experiences a
series of revelations from Our Lord about a powerful devotion He wished to
be established worldwide - the devotion to His Holy Face. The express
purpose of this devotion was to make reparation for the numerous blasphemies
and profanities taking place in the world but was also established as a
means through which we can all appeal to God for anything we wish.

The devotion revealed by Our Lord to Sister Mary of St. Peter consists
primarily of
reciting the "Golden Arrow Prayer" and the "Litany of the Holy Face"
(as seen on our Devotion page).
It also consists of some additional prayers said with a chaplet (or small
rosary) and wearing of
a Holy Face Cross engraved with the words "Blessed be the Name of God" on
the front and "Begone, Satan!" on the back.

1848:
Sister Mary of St. Peter passes away in the odor of sanctity on July 8. Just
before her death she was able to relay the details of her 5 years of revelations
to the local bishop in Tours, France. She was also able to share the information
with a friend named Leo Dupont, a retired lawyer in Tours, France.

1849:
Shortly after the death of Sister Mary of St. Peter, Pope Pius IX ordered
public prayers be offered in all churches in Rome to implore God's mercy on
the Papal States due to revolution occurring at the time. As part of these
public prayers, a three-day exposition of the relic of Veronica's veil was
held for public veneration at St. Peter's Basilica. On the third day of the
showing, a miracle occurred through which Our Lord's face on the veil became
very distinct and glowed with a soft light. The Canons of the Basilica
ordered the bells rung at sight of the miracle, which attracted crowds of
people. The miracle lasted for three
hours, was attested to by an
apostolic notary during the incident, and was documented in the daybook of
the Vatican Basilica.

That same
evening, detailed copies of the effigy were made, and were touched to the relic of
Veronica's veil, to a relic of the true cross, and to the lance which
pierced Christ's side, and were later sent abroad. In years to come, a
custom was followed in the Vatican
where further copies of the image on Veronica's veil were created in the
Vatican each year in the same manner, and sent abroad as relics of special devotion.
Photos of these relics can be found on our Holy Face Images page.

1849-1876:
Leo Dupont (friend of Sister Mary of St. Peter mentioned above)
obtained one of the Holy Face relics created in the Vatican, and placed it
on the mantle in his parlor, keeping a crystal oil lamp burning continuously
in front of it as a sign of veneration. He began privately praying the Holy
Face prayers (obtained from Sister Mary of St. Peter) with friends and
acquaintances in front of the image. Soon afterward, miraculous healings
began to occur with the friends and acquaintances who said the devotional
prayers (the "Golden Arrow Prayer" and "Litany of the Holy Face"),
and who anointed themselves with the oil from the lamp in front of the
image. Due to the repeated miracles that happened from that point forward,
Leo DuPont's parlor soon became a place of pilgrimage, and word quickly
passed throughout France. These miracles continued for 30 years until Leo
Dupont's death, and
were so numerous that Pope Pius IX declared Leo Dupont to be perhaps one of
the greatest miracle workers in Church history!

The fact that
so many first class miracles occurred through this devotion attests to the
authenticity of the revelations from Our Lord to Sister Mary of St. Peter.

1877:
After the death of Leo Dupont, his home became the Oratory of the Holy Face.

1885:While devotion to
the Holy Face of Jesus has always existed in some form or another, these
revelations and miraculous occurrences lead to this special devotion being
established by Pope Leo XIII as an Archconfraternity; and
contrary to custom, He immediately established it for the ENTIRE WORLD.
This was confirmed in the following people briefs:

1885-1897:
It was a well-known fact the St. Therese of Lisieux and her family registered
as members of the Archconfraternity of Reparation to the Holy Face at Tours
France and that St. Therese herself was so devoted to this that she added
the title to her name at the time she took the habit. This is why you will
often see St. Therese referred to as St. Therese of the Child Jesus "and of the Holy Face".
See our St. Therese page
for more details.

1910: On April 27, 1910,
Pope Saint Pius X approves a Mass of the Holy Face for the diocese of
Cambrai, France.

1945: The
Holy Face medal is approved by Pope Pius XII after Sister Maria Pierina
receives further revelations on the Holy Face urging the medal to be made.

Today:
Unfortunately, the Holy Face devotion was slowly forgotten around World War
I. In the revelations to Sister Mary of St. Peter, Our Lord was very
specific in stating the extreme importance of this devotion for making
reparation to God, for holding back the justice of God during the evils of
our day, and for obtaining the resolution to all of the problems in our
families.
Become a part of this timeline yourself by practicing this devotion as
explained on this site, and by spreading the devotion to others!

To read details about Sister Mary of St. Peter's revelations and the
miracles associated with Leo Dupont, please read the "The Holy Man of
Tours" (the life of Leo Dupont), and "The Golden
Arrow" (the autobiography of Sister Mary of St. Peter), both available from from
www.tanbooks.com.